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Released:10/15/2009

PATCO Holds Emergency Drill

PATCO is staging an emergency drill on Sunday, October 18, 2009, at its shop and rail yard in Lindenwold, New Jersey. The drill will simulate an intruder attempting to gain access to the PATCO equipment shop.

The drill will not affect PATCO operations.

Customers who ride PATCO to or from Lindenwold on Sunday morning between 9am and 11am will notice activity in and around the administration building. All the activity will be related to the drill so PATCO passengers should have no cause for concern. In addition to PATCO and DRPA personnel, the Lindenwold fire and police departments, the Lindenwold Office of Emergency Management and the Cherry Hill fire department will also take part in the drill.

PATCO President, John J. Matheussen, says “drills such as this are conducted each year to continue to practice the strong emergency procedures we have in place in concert with our emergency response partners.”

PATCO General Manager, Bob Box, says “this drill will allow our personnel to prepare for the possibility of something unexpected taking place on our property.”

The drill is being coordinated by PATCO Safety Specialist, David Rosser. Rosser says “special evaluators will observe the drill and then give their recommendations to the participants during a review of the exercise.”

The drill is described as a routine exercise designed to fine tune the skills of emergency personnel.

The Delaware River Port Authority is a regional transportation and development agency. DRPA owns and operates the Benjamin Franklin, Walt Whitman, Commodore Barry and Betsy Ross Bridges, and PATCO, the Philadelphia Cruise Terminal and the RiverLink Ferry.